‘Copycat’ manifesto spurs leaders blow hot and cold

Hyderabad: With election heat picking up, political parties are vying with each other to shower sops on people in various forms. 

In fact, it is proving to be a game of one-upmanship over the other. And political parties claim that the promises they are making in the manifestoes are their original concepts. 

While Congress party said if they are voted to power they would waive off agricultural loans in single instalment, the TRS party and its top leaders including the caretaker Chief Minister and ministers, including K T Rama Rao had said that it was something which cannot be done. 

It would require entire country’s budget they had stated. But now the TRS says that they will go in for loan wavier up to Rs 1 lakh in one or two instalments. This the Congress claims was done under pressure and was copied from their manifesto.

But then the TRS is not ready to accept it. The Congress is yet to release its manifesto and hence there is no question of copying them and secondly, this is an extension of the scheme they had implemented since 2014, the pink party leaders claim. 

In fact, on Wednesday, TRS leaders vied with each other to hold press conferences and lash at Congress party. 

Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav said, “Congress president Uttam says TRS copied his party’s manifesto. 

Earlier also the Congress party promised loan waiver of Rs 2 lakh but people did not believe them. People are not in a position to believe even if Congress promises pension of Rs 5,000 per month.”

Srinivas Yadav said that the TRS government filled vacancies through TSPSC and it did not sell the posts like Congress party. 

He said that the Congress leaders did not give houses even after payment by the beneficiary while the TRS government was implementing two bedroom scheme in a transparent manner. 

Karimnagar MP B Vinod Kumar said, “The Congress party was talking about continuing Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Beema. It will be good if they say we will continue TRS government. 

The Congress leaders are not among people and hence they are in illusion that they are going to win.” 

He said that the people of the state believe KCR because the TRS had implemented all the promises it had made in 2014 and also implemented schemes which were not mentioned in the manifesto.

Peddapally MP Balka Suman said that the people were happy with the TRS manifesto as they believe that TRS will do whatever it promises.

The allowance for unemployed would be a great relief to the thousands of youth who have participated in Telangana agitation. 

The partial manifesto is making the Congress leaders restless, he said. 

But then the Congress and Telangana TDP leaders say that this was a copy from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh where the government was implementing unemployment dole from October 1.